Legacy Roads and Trails Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2816 To provide for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Ms. SCHRIER (for herself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. KILMER, Mr. NEGUSE, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Re- sources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legacy Roads and 4 Trails Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2816 IH SEC. 2. FOREST SERVICE LEGACY ROADS AND TRAILS RE- 1 MEDIATION PROGRAM. 2 Public Law 88–657 (16 U.S.C. 532 et seq.) (com- 3 monly known as the ‘‘Forest Roads and Trails Act’’) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 8. FOREST SERVICE LEGACY ROADS AND TRAILS RE- 6 MEDIATION PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab- 8 lish the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remedi- 9 ation Program (referred to in this section as ‘the Pro- 10 gram’). 11 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Program shall be ad- 12 ministered by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of 13 the Forest Service. 14 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the Program, the 15 Secretary shall, taking into account predicted changes in 16 weather and hydrology related to global climate change— 17 ‘‘(1) carry out storm damage risk reduction, in- 18 cluding deferred maintenance, repairs, road and trail 19 relocation, and associated activities on National For- 20 est System roads, National Forest System trails, 21 and tunnels and bridges under the jurisdiction of the 22 Forest Service; 23 ‘‘(2) restore waterways and natural migration 24 for fish and other aquatic species by removing, re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2816 IH pairing, or replacing culverts or other infrastructure 1 from such waterways; and 2 ‘‘(3) decommission National Forest System 3 roads and unauthorized roads and trails under Na- 4 tional Forest System jurisdiction in accordance with 5 subsections (f) and (g). 6 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In implementing the Program, the 7 Secretary shall give priority to projects that protect or re- 8 store— 9 ‘‘(1) water quality and watershed function; 10 ‘‘(2) a watershed that supplies a public drinking 11 water system; 12 ‘‘(3) the habitat of a threatened, endangered, or 13 sensitive fish or wildlife species, or species of con- 14 servation concern; or 15 ‘‘(4) a watershed for which the Secretary has 16 completed a watershed protection and restoration ac- 17 tion plan pursuant to section 304 of the Healthy 18 Forests Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 6543). 19 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—Except with re- 20 spect to a project carried out on a watershed for which 21 the Secretary has a cooperative agreement under section 22 323 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agen- 23 cies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C. 1011a), each 24 project carried out under this section shall be on a Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2816 IH tional Forest System road, National Forest System trail, 1 or unauthorized roads and trails under National Forest 2 System jurisdiction. 3 ‘‘(f) IDENTIFICATION OF MINIMUM ROAD SYS- 4 TEMS.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the enact- 5 ment of this section, the Secretary shall identify at the 6 scale of a National Forest System unit or greater, the 7 minimum road system and unneeded roads in accordance 8 with section 212.5(b) of title 36, Code of Federal Regula- 9 tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this sec- 10 tion). 11 ‘‘(g) UNNEEDED NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM 12 ROADS.—As soon as practicable after identifying a road 13 as unneeded under subsection (f), the Secretary shall— 14 ‘‘(1) decommission such road; or 15 ‘‘(2) convert such road to a system trail. 16 ‘‘(h) REVIEW; REVISION.—The Secretary shall re- 17 view, and may revise, an identification made under sub- 18 section (f) in accordance with part 212, subpart A of title 19 36 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 20 of enactment of this section). 21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2816 IH $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 1 2030.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2816.IH H2816 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS